Repairs to begin on apartment building after porch collapse

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Work is set to begin to repair a badly damaged apartment building on Milwaukee's south side. In September, the apartment's porch gave way -- injuring two, and ultimately causing the building near 24th and National to be deemed uninhabitable.

The porch collapsed when a contractor who did not have a proper permit was trying to make repairs. Now, the building's landlord has reached out for further help in getting the building repaired.

"It`s about life safety. It has real life consequences and people have to pay attention to that," Todd Weiler with the Department of Neighborhood Services said.

The building's landlord was hit with nine citations following the porch collapse.

Department of Neighborhood Services officials say infractions range from tampering with electrical systems to minor fire code violations.

The issues came to light after a worker plummeted from the third floor while trying to repair the porch.

"Put people's lives at risk by not following those directions. We had the consequences that resulted in not pulling that permit and not having that oversight," Weiler said.

33 residents were displaced after the porch collapsed.

Weiler says the landlord was penalized and had to pay four times the normal amount to obtain a permit, and now has to confer with specialists since the building's structure is compromised.

"Since that time they`ve consulted with a structural engineer. They have an architect on board and they have pulled the appropriate permits to begin the work on the repair of the building itself," Weiler said.

The permit was issued in mid-October, but work has not begun yet. Weiler says the city code requires the landlord to make progress every six months.

"We will be monitoring it and now the inspector will be going out -- making periodic inspections, seeing all that work is complied with as specified in the permit process," Weiler said.

It is unclear when residents will get back into the building. FOX6 News reached out to the landlord for comment on this story and he said "no comment."